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Buhari knocks EU over lopsided deals with African countries

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2 years ago

February 18, 2022

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President Muhammadu Buhari has criticised the European Union (EU) over what he said was its lopsided deals with African countries which had contributed to massive underdevelopment across the continent.

Buhari made this assertion on Friday through an article published on Politico, an online publication, titled, “It’s time for a new economic deal between the EU and Africa.”

According to the President, “when it comes to the relationship between the European Union and Africa, unfair arrangements have long been skated over for lack of alternatives.

“Increasingly unsustainable, these one-sided deals have provoked calls from both sides of the Mediterranean for a partnership of equals. At the EU-Africa Summit, leaders from across my continent will gather with their European counterparts to transform such rhetoric into substance.

“The EU is currently Africa’s largest trading partner, and Africa is the fastest-growing continent on earth. While each presents the other with great opportunities, as partners, we also share a host of problems. Today, the EU-Africa relationship must be shifted toward a new economic arrangement in order to address them.

It is equally important to reinstate the N25.81 billion cut from the provision for the Power Sector Reform Programme in order to meet the Federal Government’s commitment under the financing plan agreed with the World Bank.

“The Appropriation Amendment request is for a total sum of N106,161,499,052 (One hundred and six billion, one hundred and sixty-one million, four hundred and ninety-nine thousand, and fifty-two Naira only) for Capital Expenditures and N43,870,592,044 (Forty-three billion, eight hundred and seventy million, five hundred and ninety-two thousand, and forty-four Naira only) for Recurrent Expenditures. I, therefore, request the National Assembly to make the above amendments without increasing the budget deficit. I urge you to roll back some of the N887.99 billion of projects earlier inserted in the budget by the National Assembly to accommodate these amendments.

“However, following the suspension of the PMS subsidy removal, the 2022 Budget Framework has been revised to fully provide for PMS subsidy. An additional provision of N2.557 trillion will be required to fund the petrol subsidy in 2022.

Consequently, the Federation Account (Main Pool) revenue for the three tiers of government is projected to decline by N2.00 trillion, while FGN’s share from the Account is projected to reduce by N1.05 trillion. Therefore, the amount available to fund the FGN Budget is projected to decline by N969.09 billion.”